Fifteen Minutes Till Potency
by ML Longmuir
Summary: Draco is a busy man but makes room for what he feels is worthy of his time. Will he make time for the unlikely trio that appears on his doorstep? Prompt: The Princess Bride for the Strictly Dramione Movie Fest


Draco slowly stirred the pewter cauldron sitting on his desk. He bent down closer and squinted at the gooey blue liquid as sweat ran down the side of his face. "Just a few more minutes," he thought, as he glanced at the height of the fire thecauldron was on. He quickly wiped the bead of sweat away, remembering how a drop of perspiration ruined a potion previously. He wouldn't be making that mistake again. As the potion slowly started to bubble and change from light to dark blue, the grey-eyed potioneer stood up and quickly looked at hiswristwatch. Whenever he looked at the watch, he remembered when he had gotten it.

A few years ago, Draco courted a witch he'd known in school. She gave him a handsome watch with a soft dragon leather band on their first anniversary of dating exclusively. She said it would help with his potions."It'll be easier to time your potions with this, rather than waiting for your wand to buzz," she said as he carefully strapped it to his wrist and bestowed a sweet but short kiss on her lips.

"I like it. Thank you, love," he responded. He pulled out a slender, emerald green box with a silver bow from his pocket. She slightly raised her eyebrows, teasing him about his choice of color but did not say anything as she took the box from him. His curly-haired girlfriend opened the box to reveal a thin silver necklace with a small, hollow circle hanging on the center. Inside was a small pale purple tanzanite stone, seeminglysuspended in the circular confines. Her amber eyes slowly ran over the

beautiful necklace. Her lips turned into a small smile.

"Thank you," she whispered, as she lifted her head to look at him. He wrapped his arms around her petite body and she lifted herself on her toes to reach his lips with hers.

He smiled faintly at the memory as he watched the second hand tick my on his watch.

Draco's views on blood purity drastically changed during and after the war, and he'd even made an effort at befriending Harry Potter. Things were awkward at first. They were on opposite sides of the war, after all.

One day Harry had said hello to Draco in the elevator of the Ministry of Magic. It slowly evolved from hellos to talking quidditch and seamlessly moved to friendly banter and cracking jokes about one another. Draco and Harry had maintained their friendship evenafter both of them had stopped working at the Ministry. He had Harry to thank for his girlfriend who had given him this watch he was wearing.

It had been quite the scandal when Draco and Hermione Granger made their relationship public. He remembered how reporters followed them for two weeks after they had made their first public outing to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

He thought of all the ridiculous questions and accusations, the blinding camera flashes, and the obnoxious sound of quills scribbling. Merlin, he hated those reporters. Fortunately, things died down quickly. Putting up with the reporters was worth it, because now they were hardly bothered by strangers or reporters, just like Draco pictured it to be.

Ron Weasley had stood by the couple during the tumultuous two weeks, giving Draco someone to vent to besides Hermione about the reporter-buzzards. Despite their break up, Hermione and Ron had a close friendship. From what she had told Draco, they meshed better as friends and decided to not pursue a romantic relationship. The redhead was now married to Lavender and they had a baby on the way. Lavender was ready to pop any minute, judging by last week's brunch date with the golden trio and their spouses.

Two minutes had ticked by and the potion started to emit a light blue and wispy smoke. Draco removed the cauldron from the heat and counted as he stirred the potion. After stirring the potion clockwise twelve times, he stopped and walked over to the oversized armchairagainst the wall of the room where a certain bookworm quietly sat.

Hermione seemed engrossed in the muggle book she bought on sale, but moved over slightly so he could sit. Sitting down, Draco leaned his head back into the plush chair as Hermione put her slender legs over his lap.

"What are you reading?" Draco inquired, smiling at the lovely brunette, whose eyebrows were furrowed as her eyes moved through the text. He interlocked his fingers and rested his arms on her legs.

"Hmm? Oh, it's called Lord of the Flies. Godric, it's awful," Hermione responded. She lifted her eyes from the book and looked at Draco sadly. Hermione loved books and reading. She hardly found something that didn't captivate her. This was a first.

Draco smirked. "I think I can help with that," he said as he quickly pulled the book from her fingers. He looked at the page number, making note so he could tell her when she wanted to read again, closed the book, and set it on the floor.

"But I-" Hermione started, but quickly stopped as Draco's arms enveloped her and his lips planted a soft kiss on her neck. A quick nip where her neck and shoulder met, and Hermione forgot about her book. Draco continued to suck, nip, and kiss her neck as she encouraged him with sounds and roaming her hands over him. Draco pulled his wand out of his pocket and flicked it, making the lighting in the room fade.

Putting his wand down, Draco shifted and made to lay down, pulling Hermione on top of him. He slid off her shirt and started kissing her soft lips as his hands traveled her warm flesh.

"Now what were you saying about that-" he paused and slightly cocked his head so his ear was facing the door.

"Was that a..." he was interrupted by a banging sound coming from the other room.

Hermione slowly pushed herself up. "Will you get the door while I put my shirt back on?"

"I'm busy at the moment. They can come back later," Draco whispered as he pulled at Hermione to hopefully make her lay down again.

"Draco, please go get the door and we can continue later," she said, to his dismay. "I'll make it worth it," she teased as she winked at him and offered a smirky smile.

"Don't use my strategy on me," Draco said curtly, as he stood up. He loved and hated when Hermione purposely copied his signature moves and words. He stalked towards the front door to stop whoever was incessantly knocking.

"Go away!" he shouted at first, but the person continued to bang at the door. "What?" Draco demanded in an aggravated tone as he swung the door open.

Three men stood before him, breathing heavily - the first was incredibly tall and husky, with dark curly hair, and he carried a seemingly unconscious man, who had unkempt blond hair. The third man, with long dark hair, addressed him with a slight accent.

"Are you the Potions master and healer that worked at the Ministry for a few years?"

Draco looked at the man. He was surprised by the inquiry. He had no idea who these men were, but they seemed to know about him. Thinking this was a ploy to demean him, he narrowed his eyes.

"The incompetent department head fired me. And thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject," Draco sneered. "While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it? We're closed!" Draco went to slam the door.

The third man had stuck his foot in the door's path. The door rebounded slightly and Draco scowled at the man.

"We need a potion for him. It's very important."

"Then go buy one!" Draco exclaimed quickly losing what little patience he had for these strangers.

"Please sir," the large man pleaded, looking down at his injured companion. "He's dying."

Draco looked at the motionless blond. His interest was piqued. "One quick look. And that's it."

* * *

Draco examined the blond man who lay on the couch in the front room as the others stood nearby and watched.

"Names?" he questioned.

The long-haired man spoke. "My name is Isidro. This is Finn," he said as he gestured to the tall, heavy set man. "And this is Wes," looking at the unconscious blond.

"What are you three doing? You seem an unlikely group."

Isidro cleared his throat. "We were on our way back from a business trip," he said slowly, as though racing to think of what to say next. "Please, his wife is... crippled. The children are on the brink of starvation."

"Aren't you a rotten liar," Draco mumbled.

The long-haired man straightened up, knowing the young potioneer and healer wasn't buying his story. He looked at Draco, seriousness etched in the lines of his face. "We need him to track a man who's been gone for two years," stated Isidro.

Draco looked down at the blond man, and said, "There's nothing I can do, boys." The trio looked down at the blond on the couch.

"Liar!"

The three men jumped when they heard a stern voice shout from behind them. Hermione had entered the room quietly and quickly stalked over to the group of men. She studied the unconscious man lying on the couch.

"Why won't you help them?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Leave it to Hermione to help everyone who knocks on the door," he thought irritably. He shouldn't have let them in, but he was interested. Furthermore, if Hermione found out he'd turned an unconscious man away he definitely wouldn't be receiving what she had alluded to earlier.

"Get back, witch," Draco drawled.

"I am a witch, and I'm also your wife! And so help me, I will hex you if you don't try to heal this man!" Hermione countered.

Draco looked at her and raised his eyebrows. He could tell by the hardness emanating from her copper eyes she was serious. He shrugged, indifferently.

"I can't do it."

"Draco, please," his wife insisted, looking heartbroken as she shifted her gaze from her husband to the man fighting for his life on their couch. She bit her lip, as if trying to hold back a frown laden with sadness.

"Why couldn't I have married a thoughtless bint," he scolded himself. Draco had so many similar exchanges with Hermione he knew what would happen next. He sighed. As much as he might try, she would convince him. There was no way he could say no to her.

"As you wish," he breathed.

Hermione grinned at her husband, content at his response. She admired his generosity, although he needed a little reminder now and then, especially after his boss had dismissed him from his job. She quickly raised herself and pressed her lips to his pale cheek and gave him a quick peck.

"If you heal him, Gideon will suffer," Isidro added.

Hermione dropped from atop her toes looked at the man.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "I make him better and Gideon suffers?" He turned from indifferent to confused. "How will finding a lost man humiliate my former boss?" he contemplated.

"Humiliations galore," Isidro confirmed.

"Explain."

Isidro animatedly narrated how Draco's old boss was and still is involved in illegal sales and trafficking of highly controlled potions. Finn interjected occasionally to clear up details. The man they were looking for had all the proof of Gideon's illegal activities.It was proving very difficult to find him.

From Isidro and Finn's account, Draco learned that the unconscious blond was a detective, and they were attacked by an unknown assailant during their initial meeting. After a lengthy duel, the three were able to escape, but not before the blond man was hit with a curse. It was sheer luck they ended up by Draco and Hermione's house but since the blond man was unconscious, it worked in their favor.

"Have you contacted an Auror about all this?" Draco asked.

"Yes, but they aren't able to help at the present," Isidro said shortly.

This didn't come as a surprise. Ever since Harry resigned as the Head Auror three years ago, Draco found the department had been quite lacking. Harry had left once Ginny had given birth to their first son. Being an Auror was dangerous, and he didn't want to chance his son growing up without a dad, like he had. Since then, it took longer to get things done. If you wanted something investigated fast, you had to find an alternate way, and that was the sad truth.

Draco worked on the unconscious man while his brain raced. He debated internally if he could trust these three men or not, and if the accusations they had were actually true.

In the end, he decided he could trust their story because he had noticed a few off color occurances while he was working under Gideon that fit with their claims.

The young potioneer worked with a purpose. He wanted to save this man.

Hermione watched her husband in awe. He really was extraordinary. He spent so much of his time making potions or healing. Once she had asked why he spent a good chunk of his time on demanding potions and he simply stated, "You can't right wrongs,but you can try like hell to make up for them."

She watched him as he worked quickly and methodically, mentally ticking off a checklist of what could be wrong with this man. A slight line of sweat had appeared on his brow.

"Ah!" Draco stood up and quickly walked to his potions room. He rummaged on his shelf that held a bottle of rare potions he made. He came back with a pale green potion and handed it to Isidro.

"You'll have to wait fifteen minutes for full potency, and he shouldn't go swimming for at least an hour."

"Will he be alright?" Finn asked.

Draco nodded once.

"Thank you for everything," Isidro said with relief in his voice. "How much do we owe-"

"You owe me nothing," Draco responded.

Overwhelmed by his generosity, Isidro and Finn took turns thanking Draco and shaking his hand. Soon, Finn picked up the blond man and made their way to the door.

"Good luck." Draco said, as he watched the men disappear in the distance before shutting the door.

He turned to Hermione, who was sitting in an armchair. She gazed at the handsome figure in front of her. Smiling innocently, but with her eyes with a glint of mischief, she said, "I believe you were going to help me forget about my book."

Draco smirked as he made his way to his witch like a predator hunting its prey. He wanted to make her happy all his life, and right now, he was going to oblige in her request.

He reached the armchair where she was sitting and picked her up smoothly. As he carried her to his potion room, he looked at her.

"As you wish."

* * *

Author's Note: A big shout out to Leslie for being a helluva beta and helping me SO INCREDIBLY MUCH on my first fic. Seriously, she rocks and I couldn't have done this without her. I don't own any characters from HP or from TPB. Thanks for reading!


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